Boyton or Boieton may be from the Cornish or French words for wood or forest, which
agrees well with the situation of the parish. It lies a few miles north of Launceston
and just to the west of the Devon border that runs along the River Tamar.

Like many Cornish parishes it existed before the Domesday Book recorded it. The owners
of the land, the Abbots of Tavistock, lost it to the Earl of Mortain, William the
Conqueror's brother and the chief Norman in Cornwall after the Conquest. The church
is still in use today and is dedicated to The Holy Name.